Numero Uno In San Francisco

I am Number One to get a new 2007 Mini Cooper S when they start to arrive in San Francisco next spring. Number One. Numero Uno.

Isn't it amazing that I feel that way about getting a new car? First, I love my 2002 Mini. It's an amazing car: fun to drive, cute, well designed for people. I love the fact that pretty girls turn their heads when I drive by, since I have fantasies that it's actually me they're looking at. I love the way the radio controls work on the steering wheel, the way the GPS announcer is a British lady, very polite. I even love the way Mini advertises the car and does customer service (when they aren't overwhelmed, which they have been in the past).

I got a letter from MiniSF (the BMW dealer that has the Mini franchise here in San Francisco; BMW actually owns the Mini) that said they needed used Minis like mine and that they could do a deal to get me into a 2006 for little or no cash. That made me feel good about my car! (I bought my Mini used on eBay in early 2004.) So I had some time to kill yesterday morning and dropped by MiniSF after my workout. There I met Allison, the Mini Motoring Advisor. She told me that I had missed the program and that they had sold all their 2006 models. (It turns out that Allison moved to San Francisco recently; she's a Mini owner herself and decided that she would like nothing better than to also sell Minis!) We reviewed the incoming models, but I learned that the new 2007 is coming in February or March and that they had just opened the list for people to put their names on it. For $1,000 fully refundable, I'm now Number One on the list.

While we were reviewing the 2006 models, I learned that Mini didn't offer a yellow version in 2006. My used Mini is a "Liquid Yellow" with a white top, as you can see from the photo. Since Mini isn't offering that color anymore, I'm reasonably sure that the value of my Mini is actually enhanced. Allison thinks I can sell my Mini for $20,000; I paid $23,000 for it more than two years ago. Now I'm feeling REALLY good about my Mini!

I hope Harvard Business School has done a study on how the Mini Cooper company has designed and developed their customer loyalty programs!

PS 10-10: It turns out that Mini's marketing has gotten pretty good coverage in business publications. This interview in Business Week is particularly relevant and the author even concludes with exactly the same sentiment I express above, while revealing that the marketing guy at Mini, Jim McDowell, graduated from Harvard.

Comments

[Jeff Davis]

Stewart,

Sounds like you may have missed the M squared conference last week in San Francisco, where Jim McDowell, VP of Mini, spoke to that very topic.

As a non-Mini owner, I wanted to rush out and buy one after hearing what phenomenal steps they take to embrace their "Mini-drivers" (isn't she an actress?), as they refer to their customers.

Companies everywhere could learn some lessons from Mini.

[Stewart Alsop]

Thanks! See the postscript I added to the main post....

[Mark Johnson]

Hmmm. I think that you're number one on the list because you're Stewart Alsop! =)

I was shopping for cars in October of last year. I test drove a bunch of new BMWs and, since the Mini dealer was right next to the BMW dealer, I decided to test drive one. There's no comparison at all. The Mini hugs the road, has a ton of power for its weight, and handles like a dream. When I go car shopping again, it's a Mini S all the way! [and you can park it *anywhere* in SF]